


I'm Here For You

by wearethequietones



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, M/M, Minor Violence, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-17 02:52:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3512486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearethequietones/pseuds/wearethequietones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall screwed up big time but his roommate is there to help as she finds herself unceremoniously dragged into it (literally)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic ever and it's not very good but I'm trying :)

"Niall, please tell me you didn't finish my chips _again_ ," Hannah calls out to her ever-hungry roommate, leaning on the door frame of her room with her arms crossed.

Niall shrugged apologetically before darting back into his room. "I'll make it up to you!" he replies when he comes back into view with a snapback on.

Hannah huffs in respond but she lets it slide - like she always does - because Niall's right, he _will_ make it up to her when he picks up the groceries later. The Irishman always goes overboard and comes back with enough food to supply a small army.

"Going out with Harry and Louis again?" Hannah asks but she already knows the answer. Niall's always hanging around those two lovebirds even when he complains about being the third wheel.

"Come on, join us. Loosen a little," he says light-heartedly, grabbing an apple off the kitchen countertop.

"Nahh, I've got work," Hannah replies, motioning to her desk littered with textbooks and papers. Finals are in a few weeks and she can't afford to lack off, especially not now. Doesn't seem to bother Niall though. But then again, hardly anything ever bothers Niall. "You have fun."

"Don't wait up, Hannah Banana," Niall winks in reply, fumbling with his keys, a half-bitten apple in hand.

Hannah rolls her eyes but smiles fondly at the nickname before replying, "don't count on it." as she turns back into her room, hearing Niall chuckles before he shuts the door.

* * *

Niall doesn't come back after a week.

The first day he doesn't show, Hannah doesn't bother because he's probably nursing his hangover back at Harry and Louis' shared apartment like he did many times before. The second day though, she sent a quick text asking if he's okay. _Maybe he didn't want to bother me while I'm studying_ , Hannah thought to herself. Niall tends to sing everywhere he goes. In the shower, watching TV, even while eating with his mouth full. Hannah doesn't mind though. She likes it when Niall sings. That boy has talent.

On the third day, she starts to worry. It's a Monday and Niall hasn't shown up for any of his classes. Despite Niall's free spirit and general lack of interest in his studies, he always drags himself out of bed even with a bad hangover. Unless he's really sick.

_That must be it_ , Hannah thought. He's sick.

Hannah waits until after class to call Eleanor- her only friend when she first moved to London - asking for Harry or Louis' number. In fact, Eleanor's the one who introduced Hannah to Niall when she started looking for a place to stay. Hannah had originally intended to look for a female roommate but Eleanor's already sharing an apartment with Perrie.

"Hey El, it's me. Do you mind giving me Harry or Louis' number?" Hannah asks once Eleanor picks up her phone after the third ring.

"Okay sure, mind telling me why?" Eleanor replies. "You know those two are like crazy in love with each other right? I can introduce you to some other guys," she adds before Hannah can reply.

"Oh god, El, I think the whole universe knows Harry and Louis are madly and insufferably in love with each other. No, that's not it. Niall's been missing for three days and he's not picking up his phone. I think those two might know what he's been up to," Hannah says as she makes her way to the cafeteria.

"Ahh, I see. Alright I'll text you their number," Eleanor says in reply. "Hey, come around to my place sometimes. I miss hanging out with you," she adds.

"Yeah I know, I haven't been a good friend recently," Hannah says sheepishly. "Too caught up with work."

"It's okay we'll hang out once finals are over, deal?" Eleanor asks hopefully.

"Of course, thanks for being a great friend El," Hannah replies truthfully. She's so lucky to have someone like Eleanor in her life.

"Sure you're not just saying this because I did you a favor?" Eleanor teases.

Hannah laughs before ordering a cup of coffee and finding an empty spot to sit. They chat for a while, catching up with each others' life before Hannah has a few minutes to get back for class.

"Talk later yeah?" Hannah says before they exchange goodbyes. A few seconds later, Hannah receives a text from Eleanor with Harry and Louis' number.

_Hmm, who should I call?_   Hannah ponders for a few moments before dialing Harry's number. They've hung out together a few times before with Niall and Eleanor. Harry and Louis are practically attached at the hip. Hannah decides Harry would cut to the chase and answer honestly instead of teasing her about Niall like Louis would.

"Hello?" answered a deep voice in a slow drawl that only belongs to Harry.

"Hey, Harry it's me Hannah."

"Right, Hannah, hey, how are you?"

"I'm good thanks, just asking about Niall. Is he staying at your place?" Hannah inquires.

"Oh, Niall, right, nothing to worry about!" Harry answers with fake enthusiasm, not answering her question.

'Okayyy," Hannah drags out. This is getting fishy, why is Harry hiding something from her.

"He's just sorting out some of his stuff," Harry adds after an awkward silence.

"Okay," Hannah repeats again. "Just tell him to call me if there's anything wrong."

"Nothing's wrong, he's fine! Laters bye!" Harry says before he abruptly hangs up.

_Something is definitely not fine._


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days passes in a blur. Hannah busies herself studying, mostly in the library because she's not used to coming home without Niall's presence. Niall and his obnoxiously loud singing, strumming his guitar at odd hours, Niall ransacking the fridge and cabinets for food 24/7, Niall laughing at everything on TV or cheeky remarks she made.

Hannah never knew how much she would have missed her roommate until he's gone for almost a week now. She shakes her head at her thoughts. Niall will come back when he's ready. She just hopes he's doing fine, whatever it is that he's doing.

Hannah doesn't take long to find out.

* * *

 Hannah's walking up to her shared apartment with Niall after spending hours poring over books in the library, heaving her bag up her shoulder while taking her out her keys when she notices something amiss. The door to her apartment is slightly ajar. She firmly remembers locking her door. After all, she's dubbed the responsible one in this household.

She tiptoes her way in, trying to make as little noise as she possibly could. There was no one in sight. The apartment looks exactly the same as when she left. Hannah hesitantly calls out Niall's name, thinking it must be him, having finally returned from his hiding.

Suddenly, she hears shuffling coming from Niall's room. Before she has time to respond, two figures dart out at her, one pining her arms behind her while the other covers her mouth with a cloth. No, not just any cloth, a cloth soaked with chloroform. Hannah widens her eye in surprise and tries not to breathe but to no avail. She struggles for a few seconds before defeatedly slipping out of unconsciousness.

* * *

The first thing Hannah notices is the heavy feeling that blankets all over her. Her limbs are dangling uselessly and she feels two pair of arms dragging her towards... towards what, Hannah has no idea. She squeezes her eyes shut and pretends to be unconscious because she's afraid of what she'll see when she opens her eyes.

 _Stop being useless, you need to formulate a plan,_ Hannah scolds herself.

She finally finds enough courage to pry her eyes open to access her surroundings. She seems to be in an abandoned warehouse. Broken pieces of furniture and glass litters hazardously on the cement floor. Faint light filters through the cracks of the windows that are not covered with newspaper. Among the wreckage, she spots a mess of blonde hair kneeling on the ground next to a man in an expensive looking suit whose fingers are adorned with way too many rings. Flanked behind him are four men with big muscled shoulders. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes that the man kneeling on the ground is Niall. Upon being dragged closer, she notices bruises and cuts all over his pale skin.

The two men dragging her finally stops and Hannah's unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

"Look what we have here," the man in the suit says.

" _No_ ," Niall croaks out as his eyes widen in horror. "She's got nothing to do with this!" he protests as he tries to get up but two men immediately pushes him back on the ground roughly, holding him in place. Niall keeps shaking his head at Hannah, apology written all over his face. He looks horrible, skin ashen gray with his left eye almost swollen shut. His hair that he usually styles up is matted on his forehead with sweat. His nose looks broken and Hannah worries that it's not the only thing that's broken.

"Well, let's just cut to the chase yeah?" the man in suit asks. Hannah snaps her attention back to the man and audibly gasps when she finally has a good look him. She doesn't know why she didn't notice it before but a glaringly obvious scar runs from the man's eye to his cheek and that's not the worst of it. His eyes are the most cruel Hannah has ever seen. Unlike Niall's that are bright and shines with light, the man's eyes are a cloudy, muted shade of blue.

"This one here, owes me a lot of money. Money, he doesn't plan on repaying," the man says as he circles around Niall.

"No, no, I swear I was going to – _oof_ ," Niall cries out, doubling over, before he can continue when the man kicks him on the stomach.

"That's what they all say," the man says, looking bored of this whole ordeal. "You had three months, Neil, and I'm running out of patience."

"How much?" Hannah asks before she can stop herself, speaking out for the first time since she's dragged here.

"Ah, your girlfriend here is the only one with some sense," the man snickers.

 Hannah doesn't bother correcting him because she knows it's useless. The man wouldn't care. He just wants his money. She's gotten into this somehow and no amount of protesting is going to get her out of this.

"Ten thousand pounds," the man replies.

 _Okay wow that's a lot of money_ , is Hannah's first thought. She shoots Niall a look but he wouldn't meet her eyes. _Great, what do I do now_ is her second.

 


	3. Chapter 3

_Ten thousand pounds_ , _ten_ bloody _thousand pounds_. Hannah nearly chokes back in laughter. How on earth is she going to pay back the scary man in suit ten thousand pounds?!

"Give us more time," she manages to choke out. "We'll figure something out, please, just give us more time," Hannah begs desperately. She tries to school her expression into one of sincerity.

The man in suit seems to buy it or maybe he just really wants his money. "Alright," he says. "One week." He circles around Niall again, before squatting down and pulling Niall's hair roughly so he can stare at him evenly. "Don't try anything funny or else...," he warns, darting a quick look at Hannah.

Hannah feels the burn of his gaze and swallows down a gulp. _Yup, I'm definitely in this now._

He lets go of Niall and stands up, brushing his hands on his trousers like he'd just touched something filthy. Hannah absolutely loathes him.

"Get them out of here," he commands to his henchmen before walking off with what Hannah hopes is the last time she'll see of him.

Hannah stands up shakily, holding her breath. _Are they really letting them go this easily?_ It almost seems too hopeful.

Hannah is right because two minutes later, she finds herself standing outside the warehouse, supporting much of Niall's weight. "I'm sorry," Niall says, barely a whisper. He looks so broken, inside and out, and Hannah couldn't find herself to be mad at him, at all the trouble he'd brought her into.

"We need to get you to the hospital," is what she says instead.

* * *

Hannah couldn't stop twitching in the cold, hard plastic chair as she tries to wait patiently for Niall. They had hailed a cab not too far from the warehouse, Hannah nearly screaming with joy at the sight of the cab. She promised to pay the driver double if he can get them to the hospital as fast as the traffic allows. Niall's been gone for nearly an hour and Hannah's patience is wearing thin. Mostly, she's just really worried.

_What if he's hurt more than he lets on? What if he suffers from internal bleeding? A concussion?_

Finally after what feels like an eternity, Niall is released from the hospital, all bandaged up and good to go.

"You okay?" Hannah asks for what feels like the hundredth time since they've set foot outside the warehouse as she takes in his form. The doctor says he needs rest and besides his broken nose, he's fine, just bruised. They had lied beforehand and said that Niall got into a fight with some drunken lads on their way home to the apartment. The doctor doesn't ask any further questions and for that, Hannah is grateful.

"I'm fine. Are you?" Niall asks back with guilt evident on his eyes as he scuffs his foot on the shiny white tiles of the hospital floor.

"Just tired and more than ready to go home. Shall we?"

"Yeah, it's been a long day," replies Niall, still scuffing his foot, not looking at Hannah.

"You can say that again," Hannah says with small laugh and the tension between them lifts a little as Niall cracks back a smile.

* * *

The first thing Hannah does when they got back to the apartment is to make some calls. She needs a shit ton of money and she's definitely not above begging. Eleanor immediately agrees to lend her some money and offers to help ask around for more, God bless her soul. Hannah decides that she'll ask her parents as a last resort, not wanting to burden them any further. They're already struggling to pay for her tuition fees and Hannah feels useless for not getting a part time job sooner or doing something to relief some of the financial burden.

Getting a job now is too late but she's going to try anyway. She's going to have to get up early the next day for an interview at the coffee shop near campus, as recommended by Perrie. Niall had called Louis and Harry while Hannah rattled on the events of the day to Eleanor. They insisted on coming over to check on him but Niall assured them he's in safe hands with Hannah, giving her a wink. He seems better now, color coming back to his complexion as he makes calls after calls, surprisingly not hungry when Hannah offers to make food.

Hannah makes him a sandwich anyway, insisting on him to eat before taking his meds. He's getting drowsy now, the medications taking place and he dozes off not long after on the couch. Hannah herself yawns when she realizes how late it was. She gets up from the couch and comes back with a blanket, tugging Niall in before she makes her way to her room, plopping onto her bed head first and falls asleep immediately.


	4. Chapter 4

Hannah got the job, barely making it on time for the interview and manages to look somewhat presentable. Or so she hopes. When she got back to the apartment, Niall is still sleeping soundly on the couch, unperturbed. She's going to be late for class but decides to skip it altogether, the current crisis at hand more important than her education at the moment. She drops her bag on the floor and makes her way to the kitchen, setting down the coffee and muffins she bought on her way back from the coffee shop. Niall starts stirring, mumbling incoherently. He must have smelled the food, Hannah thought, smirking to herself.

"Wakey, wakey Niall, I brought food," Hannah says shaking her bag of muffins.

"Mmm food, sounds nice," Niall hums.

Hannah opens the bag, takes a muffin out and brings it close to Niall, stifling a giggle.

"Smells even better," he amends, cracking his eyes opens before quickly darting up to take a bite out of the muffin Hannah is holding, making her shriek and almost drop it in alarm.

"You idiot," she says before throwing the muffin at his face, hitting him square on the nose.

"Ow, watch it!" he cries while falling back on the sofa, clutching his nose in apparent pain.

"Oh God, I'm sorry!" Hannah exclaims, rushing to his side, having totally forgotten about his injured nose.

Niall is angling his face away, still clutching his nose, not letting her have a look.

"Niall, come on, I need to see if you're okay," Hannah says while biting her lips, touching his shoulder softly, as if fearing she'll cause him any further harm.

Niall grumbles underneath her touch, slowly turning back to her, face still scrunched up. Hannah tries to pry his hands away when he abruptly grabs both her hands in his and screams, "Gotcha!"

"Niall, you jerk! I swear to God!" Hannah cries while trying to wriggle her hands free. Niall only proceeds to tickle her on her ribs - having known it as her only weak spot - still having hold of her hands.

"And this is how you repay me for getting you breakfast?" Hannah squeals in between laughter. "Stop! Stop! I can't take it anymore!"

Niall the bastard, continues tickling her all the while cackling with laughter, face turning a bright shade of red. After what he deems is enough, he ceases his torture and lets go of her hands.

Hannah falls back on the couch, trying to catch her breath. "Ugh," she groans, clutching her ribs. "No more muffins for you."

Niall responds by wiping tears from his eyes before he stood up, stretching out his hands for her to take it, an easy smile on his face. Hannah eyes him with distrust which makes his grin widen.

"Come on now," he says, laughing a little. "You can trust me."

Hannah only huffs in respond before reaching out, letting Niall pull her up. He bends down and grabs the muffin from the couch, blowing on it before popping the whole thing in his mouth without a second thought. Hannah makes a face in distaste.

"What?" Niall shrugs. "Can't let a perfectly good muffin go to waste."

And well, Hannah can't argue with that.

* * *

They ate their breakfast in silence, nothing out of place except Niall's face, which grows increasingly serious. Just as Hannah's about to inquire him on his change in mood, Niall stops her with a solemn look that is so out of character, the words got stuck in her throat.

"You don't have to do this," he says with a somber expression. His usual bright eyes now a shade darker, bores straight into hers, making her uneasy.

"Do what?" Hannah says with feign innocence, forcing herself to look right back at him.

Niall sighs before continuing. "You know what, helping me with this. This is my mess and I don't want you involved."

Hannah stands up then, crossing her arms. "I'm already involved the minute they kidnapped me," she shoots back.

Niall cringes at her sharp tone and she forces herself to continue.

"Look, I'm not only doing this for you, my life is at stake here too. Especially since they think I'm your girlfriend, they might use me against you," Hannah finishes.

"I won't ever let them hurt you," Niall says fiercely, standing up. "If they so much as lay a finger on you, I will rip the heads off their wretched self and feed em back to their mothers," Niall spits with his accent thick. His Irish accent tends to thicken whenever he gets upset or overly excited.

Hannah's taken aback with Niall's ferocity but appreciates his protectiveness.

"Just let me help okay? You can't do this alone and I won't let you," Hannah says with the same force.

Niall looks torn so Hannah adds in hastily, "Besides, you'll have to pay me back anyway."

"Yeah, yeah of course, I swear Hannah, I will do everything in my power to pay you back, I swear on my-"

"It's settled then," Hannah says with finality.

Niall only nods grimly in defeat.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and feedback are welcome!


End file.
